Aretha Franklin's Hat Maker SUES Competitors, Demands R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The maker of the hat that Aretha Franklin wore to Barack Obama's inauguration has filed a federal lawsuit against those producing copies of it, The Smoking Gun reports.

In a U.S. District Court complaint filed Friday, Luke Song claims that his "lavish and ornate" creation "gained instantaneous fame and notoriety, attracting much more media attention than even Aretha Franklin's performance itself" at the January 2009 ceremony. In the wake of the grey hat's stirring debut, Song alleges, the item has been improperly copied and sold by several firms with which he had previously done business.

Song is seeking a judicial order to bar any future sales of the knockoffs. There's no word on whether he seeks monetary damages.